The four numbers
$1,000 a month. The lifetime pension Panama’s pensionado visa asks for, or $750 if you own Panamanian property worth over $100,000. The visa, and the discounts →
Permanent. The pensionado permit doesn’t expire and needs no renewal.
25%. What the 1987 pensionado law takes off restaurant bills, with 20% off doctor’s consultations, 15% off uninsured hospital bills and 10% off medicines.
$90–300 a month. What air conditioning costs a couple in a Panama City apartment, depending on how much they run it. Rent, power, health →
What makes Panama different
It runs on the dollar. No currency risk on your Social Security, your rent or your savings.
Residency is permanent at once. Every other country on this site starts you on a temporary permit.
Retiree discounts are law. Not a loyalty program: a statute with percentages, from cinemas to flights.
It’s territorial for tax. US pensions and Social Security aren’t taxed in Panama.
Healthcare needs planning early. Panama City’s private hospitals are strong, but most local insurers stop taking new customers around 65.
Who Panama works for
- Retirees on a pension of $1,000 or more who want permanent residency without renewals.
- People who want the dollar and short flights home.
- Anyone who likes the heat, or prefers the cool highlands of Boquete.
Who it doesn’t
- People who hate heat and humidity and want to live in the capital.
- Anyone arriving after 70 without health insurance: starting a local policy then is hard.
- Anyone who wants to file their own residency: it goes through a Panamanian lawyer.
Before you decide
- Get health insurance quotes before 65 if Panama is your plan.
- Spend time in both Panama City and the highlands: they’re different lives.
- Get two or three written quotes from lawyers for the residency filing.
- Remember the utility discounts only apply to small bills.
For a comparison of where $2,000 a month works across 14 countries, Panama included, see How to Retire Abroad on $2,000 a Month.
